Fabulous (as in fablelike), this will tug relentlessly on the mind and heart of any child ready to read it. (Fable. 8-12)
Children are ready for philosophy at a very young age: “What is real?” asked the Velveteen Rabbit, after all.
This beautiful and mysterious volume is not quite a graphic novel, although its black, white and gray pictures fill the pages and hint of Edward Gorey. There are an epigraph and a coda, which are also mysterious, asserting that “Truth and Lies are one.” A marble figure of a little girl, barefoot, looking up from the open book in her lap, sits on a plinth carved with her name, Faith. But one day she speaks, and the carpet—a tiger skin—answers her. She wants to move, to stretch, to finish her book, but the Carpet tells her that she is a statue, a work of art. He tells Faith that she might be under a magic spell; he tells her the shocking story of how he became a rug and how His Grace used to come to this room and read to the statue. He spins many tales, and then he says that everything he speaks is a lie. His Grace dies, and Faith jumps down from her plinth, flying off in the night on her tiger carpet. The house is filled with another family, and the youngest child finds the shut stone book, which one day opens in her hands. Stories—truth and lies—spin around each other, thick as the ornamentation that fills every page.
Fabulous (as in fablelike), this will tug relentlessly on the mind and heart of any child ready to read it. (Fable. 8-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84270-441-7
Page Count: 78
Publisher: Andersen/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Eminently readable and appealing; will tug at dog-loving readers’ heartstrings.
A loquacious, lovable dog narrates the challenges of shelter life as he longs for a home.
Friendly three-legged Chance is the perfect guide to Dogtown, a shelter that houses both warmblooded and robot dogs. In fact, she’s “Management’s lucky charm,” roaming freely without being confined to a cage and leaving kibble for her mouse friend. Life is pretty good. But she still yearns for reunification with her family and, like many of the living pups, harbors suspicion of her robot counterparts, who are convenient and more easily adoptable but lacking in personality. When Metal Head, an oddly engineered e-dog, bonds with a child during a shelter reading program, Chance’s assumptions about heartless robot dogs are upended. As Chance connects with Metal Head, the two make a brief escape into the wider world, and Chance learns a familiar lesson: Everyone longs for a place to belong. Memories of Chance’s happy home loom large in her mind: Easy days with the Bessers, a sweet Black family, were disrupted by a neglectful dogsitter, the accident that cost Chance her leg, and Chance’s flight in search of safety. Chance’s chatty narrative style includes flashbacks, vignettes about fellow shelter pets, and thoughtful observations, for example, about the “boohoos,” or sad new arrivals. The story offers many moments of laughter and reflection, all greatly enhanced by West’s utterly charming grayscale illustrations of irresistible pooches.
Eminently readable and appealing; will tug at dog-loving readers’ heartstrings. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781250811608
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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